The present invention relates to a tool for pulling out Gate Array Integrated Circuits from a printed Circuit Board. The computer is known for its enlightenment of mankind as a hi-tech product which shortens the time spent on various scientific operations. The progress of computer design and the development of technology has been quite rapid. An eight-bit Apple II personal computer was developed around ten years ago and today sixteen-bit and thirty-two-bit personal computers are commonplace in the PC markets. Although the appearance and volume of personal computers have not changed significantly, the data processing speed and memory size have increased dramatically. When a PC is opened, the Gate Array IC package is revealed. These complicated integrated circuits, that are small in size, play an important role in the function of a PC. However, bugs may occur in these chips which causes the need to replace the chip. Pulling out the complex IC thus becomes detailed work. Therefore, a more practical PC tool is needed to accomplish this.
The gate Array IC Puller is designed as a practical tool for computer maintenance. Because the Gate Array IC is plugged into a chip carrier with many compactly adjacent pins on its edge, the only way to extract a Gate Array IC from its chip carrier is to insert a Gate Array IC Puller into two diagonal holes (1.5 mm wide, 2.0 mm long and 5.0 mm deep each), hold the IC firmly and pull the IC out of the carrier. With other tools such as a screw-driver, a needle, or a common IC extractor, this will not only take longer but also may ruin the sensitive chip.
Other IC extractors currently used in the electronics industry have major disadvantages with include:
1. the extractor is not compatible with all types and all dimensions of Gate Array ICs, PA1 2. the extractor is made of fragile material, rough in outline and of no commercial value, PA1 3. it is difficult to operate, PA1 4. serious collision occurs at the instance of pulling out the IC, damaging pins and the internal construction of the Gate Array IC.
In order to overcome the disadvantages listed above, the applicants have created the following invention.